Florida softball wins 2015 SEC regular-season title

Despite dropping a series and regular-season finale in extra innings on Sunday, No. 1 Florida Gators softball ended the day by being crowned the winners of the 2015 SEC Championship.

Florida entered Sunday on a 17-game winning streak dating back to April 3 and had earned close 7-6 and 9-6 wins over the Missouri Tigers in the first two games of their weekend series. Though the Gators rallied back from a two-run deficit to force extra innings, the Tigers clinched a 3-2 victory with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the eighth.

Ultimately however, Florida (49-5, 18-5 SEC) ended the day with a higher winning percentage than Auburn (46-9, 18-6 SEC) despite playing one fewer game due to a cancellation at Georgia on April 19. UF and AU (7-1 to LSU) both fell on Sunday, giving the Gators a 3.3 percent edge in league play and the outright SEC title.

The conference regular-season crown is Florida’s second in the last three seasons.

The Gators will look to win their first SEC Tournament title since the same year when action begins on Wednesday in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. UF will enter the single-elimination event as the No. 1 overall seed with a bye and play on Thursday.

Florida is the defending 2014 national champions after winning the Women’s College World Series Championship Series for the first time in school history last year.